London Bus Route 109 - Brixton - Streatham - Norbury - Thornton Heath Pond - Croydon Town Centre. (7 Miles)
Operated By
Abellio London Garage: Beddington BC
Past Timetables: Oct 1981,
Sep 1982,
Feb 1987,
Feb 2003 To View The Current Timetable
Click Here History: The route 109 began on the 8th April 1951, and was a circular route from Purley- West Croydon- Streatham- Elephant and Castle- Westminster- Kennington- Norbury- Croydon- Purley, this was a tram replacement route. The 109 was operated from Brixton Garage and Thornton Heath Garage, by RT type buses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 52RT from BN and 36RT from TH, Saturday 41RT from BN and 24RT from TH and Sunday 12RT from BN and 16RT TH.
On the 16th October 1957 the Sunday route to Westminster was withdrawn, daily was Blackfriars. The BN Sunday operation was also withdrawn. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 48RT from BN and 32RT from TH, Saturday 37RT from BN and 21RT from TH and Sunday 12RT from TH. At the end of April 1958 the Sunday BN allocation was re-introduced. There was a few more changes to the PVR, Monday to Friday 47RT from BN and 31RT from TH, Saturday 33RT from BN and 20RT and Sunday 5RT from BN and 7RT from TH.
On the 26th November 1958 the route was revised, Purley Victoria Embankment
(via Embankment loop). (Mon-Sat) or via Westminster Bridge to Horse Guards Avenue only (Suns) Sunday Blackfriars section withdrawn. The Sunday BN allocation was withdrawn. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 45RT from BN and 31RT from TH, Saturday 31RT from BN and 22RT from TH and Sunday 12RT from TH.
At the end of January 1964 the PVR numbers were revised, and also RTL operation was introduced on the Saturday BN allocation. The current PVR was, Monday to Friday 39RT from BN and 33RT from TH, Saturday 39RT/3RTL from BN and 9RT from TH and Sunday 12RT from TH. Later on in April 1964 the RTL allocation was withdrawn from BN and replaced by RTW type buses full time. The current PVR was Monday to Friday stayed the same numbers, Saturday 37RTW from BN and 14RT from TH and Sunday 12RT from TH.
On the 23rd January 1966 the Sunday service was withdrawn all day except from a few early morning journeys from Thornton Heath (TH). There were changes in the PVR again for Saturday 24RTW from BN and 14RT from TH and Sunday 2RT from TH. By April 1966 the 109 was back to full time RT allocation. At the end of October 1970, a Sunday one person operation was introduced by SMS type buses from TH which was small deck buses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 36RT from BN and 37RT from TH, Saturday 18RT from BN and 13RT from TH and Sunday 2SMS from TH. Later in 1974 the Sunday operation was back to Double Deck by DMS type buses.
On the 19th July 1975, DM type buses were introduced on Saturdays from BN. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 30RT from BN and 32RT from TH, Saturday 14DM from BN and 16RT from TH and Sunday 2DMS from TH. On the 23rd May 1976 the Monday to Friday BN allocation was converted to Routemaster operation (RM). Later in early October 1976 the TH Monday to Saturday allocation was converted to Routemaster operation as well. By early March 1978 the Monday to Friday operation was converted to DM type buses and the same year in August the RM Operation was replaced by DM type buses Monday to Saturday. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 30DM from BN and 32DM from TH, Saturday 14DM from BN and 16DM from TH and Sunday 2DMS.
By the 28th October 1978 an all day Sunday service was introduced there were many changes to the route of the 109 as the route tried to replace parts of
route 59 which was withdrawn, Purley
(Mon-Sat/ Sun am journeys) , South Croydon Garage (Suns) Brixton Station
(Suns) , Victoria Embankment
via Westminster or Blackfriars (Mon-Sat/ Sun early am journeys). The PVR was now Monday to Friday 14DM from BN and 38DM from TH, Saturday 7DM from BN and 15DM from TH and Sunday 10DM from TH.
On the 15th August 1981 the BN allocation was converted back to RM operation as the D type buses were transferred to another garage. The current PVR was changed on Saturday 8RM from BN and 15DM from TH. By September 1982 TH and BN were both operating the 109 by RM’s, there were a few changes to the routing of the 109, PURLEY
(Mon-Sat/ Sun am journeys) , South Croydon Garage
(Suns), Brixton Station
(Suns) , Victoria Embankment
via Westminster (Mon-Sat/ Sun early am journeys) or Blackfriars (Mon-Fri) or Elephant and Castle (Sat). The current PVR was Monday to Friday 11RM from BN and 36RM from TH, Saturday 10RM from BN and 16RM from TH and Sunday 8RM from TH.
When the 2nd February 1985 came the 109’s route was revised South Croydon Garage (Mon-Sat), Victoria Embankment
(via Westminster or Blackfriars) (Mon-Fri) or The Elephant (Sat). The 109 was withdrawn from South Croydon and Purley. The Sunday allocation was withdrawn as this was replaced by a new
route 59. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 12RM from BN and 25RM from TH and Saturday 2RM from BN and 9RM from TH. Later on the 1st February 1986 the 109 was withdrawn between Croydon and South Croydon Garage. There was more changes to the PVR, Monday to Friday 11RM from BN and 23RM from TH and Saturday 2RM from BN and 8RM from TH.
On the 7th February 1987 the 109 was withdrawn around the Victoria Embankment loop and were diverted (via Trafalgar Square). The operation on the 109 was converted to One Man Operation at BN and TH. The current PVR was for Monday to Friday 23D from TH and Saturday 14M from BN. Later in July 1990 the BN allocation was withdrawn and was transferred to Streatham Garage (AK), The current PVR was Monday to Friday 10M from AL and 13D from TH and Saturday 14D from TH.
On the 2nd February 1991 the TH allocation was withdrawn so it was fully operated at AK the current PVR was 25M Monday to Saturday. On the 14th March 1992 the route was extended from Croydon to Purley and there were lots of PVR changes as AK shut down. The current PVR for Monday to Friday was 17L from TC and 20T from TH, Saturday 7T from BN, 13L from TC and 10T from TH and Sunday 6T from BN, 6L from TC and 9T from TH. By January 1994 the BN allocation was withdrawn and then in march 1994 the TC allocation was withdrawn. The current PVR was 37L Monday to Friday, 29L Saturday and 22L Sunday all allocated from TH. On the 15th June 1996 a Monday to Friday BN allocation was introduced using Metrobuses, The current PVR was Monday to Friday 8M from BN and 28L from TH, Saturday 29L from TH and Sunday 22L.
On the 29th August 1998 the 109 was withdrawn between Croydon and Purley. There was more PVR changes, Monday to Friday 8M from BN and 28L from TH, Saturday 26L from TH and 20L from TH. Later in September 1999 the BN allocation was withdrawn so it was just leaving TH operating the route and a company called Cowie South London Operated the 109. The current PVR was 24L Monday to Friday, 22L Saturday and 12L Sunday. Later in 2001 the route was operated by Arriva London South from TH, and brought some new low floor double deckers. The current PVR was 24DLA Monday to Friday, 22DLA Saturday and 12DLA Sunday. On the 1st February 2003 the contract was renewed with Arriva. The route used to see some L class buses up until the end of 2003. On the 12th January 2008 Arriva managed too pull of a 2 year extension on their current contract. The current PVR was now Monday to Friday 25DLA, Saturday 23DLA and Sunday 13DLA. Throughout 2010 as part of the 109’s contract renewal for 5 years new enivro 400 type buses now operate on the 109 with the DLA’s too. The average journey time is between 32 and 66 minutes. The frequency Monday to Saturday is every 6 minutes and every 10 minutes Sunday and evenings.
Last Updated 20th October 2011
